Journey: to Branson

We are so, so lucky that each year my parents take us on a family trip. In 2011 we spent a whirlwind week in Washington D. C. and it was awesome. After the adventures and LONG days in D. C. we all decided we wanted something a little less active for the 2012 trip. It was decided that we would enjoy the sights and sounds of Branson, MO. What an awesome trip it was!!
We stayed in a house at a Table Rock Lake and it was perfect! We loved being at the lake and spending time at the dock fishing and swimming. We took a boat out for a day which was so fun! Along with our time at the lake we spent time at Silver Dollar City amusement park and the water park as well. Since we were in Branson we saw some shows- of course! We saw the Chinese Acrobats, SIX, Joseph, and the Stampede.

We all decided it was the perfect trip with great fun along with some relaxing vacation time as well. Who knows what next summer will bring but my parents are already planning!

Change in Title

Don't get too excited... Although I do plan on brushing off the 'ole Blog at some point, tonight it's just a name change. Since 2007 the name has been Catesinhewitt but in 2009 we technically became CatesinWaco due to our move (although we have a Hewitt phone number, Midway ISD, and Waco water/trash- go figure). I've been reading a lot of blogs lately especially ones about school counseling and travel as well as keeping up with friends busy lives so as usual I'm inspired to get busy and update ours. So bear with me while I make some changes and try to add some news as well.
Oh, and Happy Fall Y'all!!

Dachau, Germany

We thought that it was important that we remember the tragedies that happened in Germany during our time there. We were close to Dachau and found a good tour to take. Our guide was very good and very informative while at the same time showing respect to the memory of the many people who died there.
Dachau was the first concentration camp that was opened by the Third Reich. It was a concentration camp for 12 years. All children in Germany are required to visit a concentration camp during their school years. The pictures below are of two of the memorials. The last picture is of the gates at the entrance which translate to "work will liberate."

Germany Part III - Nuremberg

Nuremberg has one of the largest and most famous Christmas Advent markets in the world. I heard about the markets from my parents and other friends who had been stationed in Europe. We planned our trip during Thanksgiving so we could experience the market (opens on the first Friday of Advent) and I'm so glad we did!! I didn't take enough pictures of the different stalls which I wish I had. We love going from stall to stall and buying ornaments. We also did some food sampling with yummy sausages and gluhwein. All the red stripes are the many stalls to visit, awesome!!

Enjoying some gluhwein in the cold!

I bought a nutcracker at this store. It had so many things I wanted to buy!!


The best part of our day!

The Christmas angel came out onto the church balcony along with trumpeters. She said some stuff in German, officially opening the Advent market and then everyone sang "Silent Night" in German~ AMAZING!

Germany Part II- A Fairy Tale Castle

One reason our home base was Munich was it's proximity to Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We took a gray line tour that went to 2 of Mad King Ludwig Castle's as well as Oberammergau. Neuchwanstein was our last stop and it was perfect. There is a little town at the bottom of the hill. Hill, yes the castle sits on top of a hill- I would say mountain after climbing to the top :) There was a carriage you could ride but we decided to make the climb, it's all about the experience. It was a beautiful day and although it was cold it was a nice walk.
Poor King Ludwig lived in the castle less than a year and only 15 out of the 200+ rooms are complete. Over 1 million people visit each year and it was opened to tourist less than 2 months after his death.

Showing the way to get to the castle

This is my favorite picture...

Germany- Part 1

I love traveling in Europe! I love riding trains, seeing beautiful buildings, trying new food (okay, so that's not completely true as I'm not a big fan of trying new things but I try to step out of my box a little bit when traveling), and seeing all the places I've only seen in pictures! So far, Germany is at the top of my list for all those things!

I was born in Grafenwoehr, Germany (yes, I had to look up had to spell the city :) while my dad was in the Army. We left before I was 2 so I don't remember anything but I've always wanted to go back. I visited Munich while when I was doing my student teaching in London. We were there for less than 24 hours so I knew I wanted to go back and really see more of the country.

We choose Munich as our home base due to it's close proximity to several areas I wanted to visit. Since we were going at Thanksgiving we knew it would be cold and it was! Our first stop was Salzburg.

I seriously wish we had the train system that Europe does, it's awesome!!

Marienplatz, Munich

Glockenspiel, Munich

Somewhere outside Salzburg

Hohensalzburg Castle, Salzburg

Hawaii

Hawaii

July 2010

Wow! Hawaii is amazing and I was so excited to get to visit. I had always wanted to go and when my parents decide to take us on a cruise around the islands it was a dream come true. Since Steve and I have most of July off we decided to spend some extra time on two islands before the whole family arrived.

Our first island was Maui. Maui was awesome and we did lots while we were there including driving the Road to Hana, the Old Lahaina Luau, and snorkeling. We even fit in some beach time as well. Next we flew to Kauai which was fabulous. My favorite thing we did there was a photography tour. We were with a guide as well as another couple from NYC. Our tour guide took us to areas off the beaten path to get some awesome pics. I loved using my camera to bring back some outstanding pics. Kauai has so many places to photograph that it makes it easy. We also did a helicopter tour- awesome!!After our initial visit to 2 islands we were off to the capital city of Honolulu to meet my family for some more hang time! Honolulu was so different than the other cities we had visited- so different! It was loud and there were a ton of people everywhere. We had fun but I like the quiet beaches of Kauai and Maui more. We did enjoy a day at The Polynesian Cultural Center which was awesome, like Epcot for Hawaii. We went to the luau as a family which was so fun.

Then we headed out on our cruise. We visited 4 islands including Maui, the Big Island and Kauai plus Oahu. We did a hike in Maui that took us to beautiful waterfalls. In Hilo we visited Volcanoes National Park which was cool (or hot, hmmmm). Snorkeling was our next adventure in Kona. It was the best snorkeling we've ever done- a little cold though :) Our last stop was Kauai where the whole family went snorkeling. My parents had done something else the day before so it was exciting to get all geared up together. As we now say- A family that snorkels together, stays together!

We enjoyed cruising the islands, the best way to see the many different faces of Hawaii. The whole family had an amazing time and I'm already looking forward to going back!